Brianna Holcomb
Arts and Entertainment Editor
Each club at Hofstra takes the time to not only educate, but also entertain as they put on various events throughout the year. The Black Student Union does just that with their annual program, in collaboration with the African Caribbean Society, Bacchanal, or better known as Carnival.
This is their third annual event, which includes bright costumes, performances, music, food and much more. Bacchanal is an important part of West Indian culture that brings a fun and colorful atmosphere to the campus each year.
On April 17, the BSU started the day with J’Ouvert, a paint throwing tradition that starts off the Carnival celebration. This event consisted of powdered paint in a various array of different colors. For those who do not know, J’Ouvert is very similar to the ancient Hindu tradition of Holi (which was displayed on Snapchat’s live feed this year). This paint-throwing tradition came about at the emancipation from slavery in 1838 when slaves were able to participate in these street carnivals. It has become a large part of West Indian culture ever since.
Students showed up donning white shirts, so the paint would show up, and flags representing their countries. The DJ played a mix of Reggae and some hip-hop for the non-Caribbean crowd. Students ran around laughing and throwing paint at each other as well as attempting to keep the powered paint from being thrown on them. The air was filled with puffs of colors as the cups of paint were tossed into the air.
After the running around and paint throwing ended, a large array of Caribbean food was served. The menu consisted of foods like ox tail, jerk chicken, plantains, rice and peas, curry goat and much more. Guest lined up piling their plates high with food, joking and laughing.
The celebration continued on into the night. Over 200 guests arrived to Hofstra USA to see the performance of the Bacchanal girls and their extravagant costumes. They entered the venue split up into four groups: Fire and Ice, Effervescent, Risky Business and Mysterious.
At first glance, you notice the large feathers and colors that are on these costumes. It is safe to say that these girls made a bold statement in these outfits. The costumes looked as though they could be bejeweled bathing suits but they represent much more than that. Every jewel on the costume clearly added some weight but the girls carried themselves upright with no problem.
One of my favorite pieces in the outfits was the headpiece. Their headpieces were donned with large and colorful feathers resembling the tail of a peacock.The jewelry on the headband matched the colorful feathers and stood out against the plain cloth that was used to make this extravagant piece.
Not every girl was wearing a large headpiece. The girls who took on this challenge are known as front line girls. They are the first to walk into the event and in a traditional road march are the first girls you see. This does not mean that the other girls’ outfits were any less extravagant.
The energy that these young women carried into the venue transferred to everyone in the room. As they made their grand entrance, each group stopped in the center and conducted their own routine. Each mini-routine consisted of simple dance moves that could be found at an actual Carnival celebration.
To add to the atmosphere, in previous years the special guest at Bacchanal have been Soca artists. For example, in 2012 Destra and Ding Dong came to perform for the crowd. This year, BSU’s special guest was Hot 97 DJ Bobby Konders and Jabba. They specialize in playing Reggae music with their segment “On Da Reggae Tip.” They play a mix of Reggae, Soca, dancehall and hip-hop music.
This event gave a great look into this large event that brings millions of people to the Caribbean every year. It is a large learning experience that made me appreciate the culture so much more. The hard work that goes into putting on this event was shown in the small events leading up to Bacchanal as well as in the girls’ costumes. Cheyenne-Rae Stewart, who was born and raised in Jamaica and Vice President of BSU, organized this event with a lot of pride.
“The Black Student Union in Collaboration with African Caribbean Society hosts this annual event in an effort to promote culture awareness and share the rich tradition of the Caribbean people amongst the Hofstra community,” said Stewart. “There is a lack of Caribbean festivals/culture represented by the University itself, so we try to represent this minority group of students on campus. As an old Jamaican saying goes, ‘We likkle but we tallawh,’ which means we are small but we accomplish great things.”